Pick-up trucks are widely used for transporting cargo and people to job sites and are used for a wide variety of types of work. Home owners, carpenters, plumbers and many other trades rely on pick-up trucks to get a job done. The tailgate of a pick-up truck provides access to the truck bed when opened and keeps cargo in the truck bed when closed. The tailgate when opened is frequently used to provide a work surface or seating area. The tailgate should be protected when used as a work surface to prevent drilling or cutting into the tailgate while working on an article.
Applicant has developed and patented (U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,624) a “flip out step” or retractable step assembly that is retracted into the tailgate for storage and extended to provide a step to facilitate climbing into and out of the truck bed. The retractable step assembly is a popular feature with consumers but is not designed to do support a workpiece.
This disclosure is directed to solving the above problems and other problems as summarized below.